There is an increasing volume of published research now accessible to health professionals. Health professionals, such as nurses, require critical appraisal skills to assess the quality of evidence in order to safely influence clinical decision making. The overarching learning objective of this assessment task is to critically appraise the selected published Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) and to apply the results to the relevant scenario.
- Critically appraise research using a relevant appraisal framework/s
- Critique, interpret, and apply study findings to a clinical practice scenario
- Clearly explain complex concepts and scientific knowledge in writing, when managing unfamiliar problems.
There are four key questions to be asked when completing an appraisal:
- Does this study address a clearly focused question (Links to an external site.)?
- Did the study use valid methods to address this question?
- Are the valid results of this study important?
- Are these valid, important results applicable to my patient or population (scenario)?
Scenario 1
